Franz John

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Franz Adolf Louis John (1872–1952) was a German football player and the founder and first president of Bayern Munich. He was born on 28 September 1872 in Pritzwalk, Brandenburg, to Friedrich Wilhelm and Ida John. He grew up near Berlin and joined VfB Pankow, where he met Gustav Manning, who later helped Munich clubs join the German Football Association (DFB). After training as a photographer in Jena, John moved to Munich and joined 1879 Munich. On 27 February 1900, a split at MTV led eleven players to leave and form a new club. In the Gisela restaurant they founded Bayern Munich and elected John as its president. He also started the Bavarian referees council. Under his leadership, Bayern joined the South German Football Association (SFV) in its first year and quickly became a strong team. In 1903 John stepped down and Willem Hesselink of the Netherlands took over as president. John left Munich in 1904 and returned to Pankow, where he opened a photo lab and later became president of VfB Pankow. Despite living away from Munich, he was made honorary president of Bayern in the 1920s, and in 1936 he received a gold needle from the club. He died on 17 November 1952 in Pankow, East Berlin, at age 80 and had no children. Journalist Joachim Rechenberg later found his grave in Fürstenwalde. In 2000, Bayern celebrated its 100th anniversary by recreating his grave and placing a new tombstone to honor Franz John.